A dead Sanniasi is always buried in the sitting attitude of religious
contemplation with the legs crossed. The grave may be dug with a side
receptacle for the corpse so that the earth, on being filled in, does
not fall on it. The corpse is bathed and rubbed with ashes and clad
in a new reddish-coloured shirt, with a rosary round the neck. The
begging-wallet with some flour and pulse are placed in the grave,
and also a gourd and staff. Salt is put round the body to preserve
it, and an earthen pot is put over the head. Sometimes cocoanuts are
broken on the skull, to crack it and give exit to the soul. Perhaps
the idea of burial and of preserving the corpse with salt is that
the body of an ascetic does not need to be purified by fire from the
appetites and passions of the flesh like that of an ordinary Hindu;
it is already cleansed of all earthly frailty by his austerities, and
the belief may therefore have originally been that such a man would
carry his body with him to the afterworld or to absorption with the
deity. The burial of a Sanniasi is often accompanied with music and
signs of rejoicing; Mr. Oman describes such a funeral in which the
corpse was seated in a litter, open on three sides so that it could be
seen; it was tied to the back of the litter, and garlands of flowers
partly covered the body, but could not conceal the hideousness of death
as the unconscious head rolled helplessly from side to side with the
movement of the litter. The procession was headed by a European brass
band and by men carrying censers of incense. [112]